A Runner's High is Real

A new study makes connections between euphoria and running.

"The data showed that, indeed, endorphins were produced during running and were attaching themselves to areas of the brain associated with emotions, in particular the limbic and prefrontal areas. The limbic and prefrontal areas, Dr. Boecker said, are activated when people are involved in romantic love affairs or, he said, you hear music that gives you a chill of euphoria, like Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3. The greater the euphoria the runners reported, the more endorphins in their brain."

I'd like to comment on this report, but since I finished my 12-mile run this morning I've been too busy eating Doritos, drinking Dr. Pepper and listening to Dark Side of the Moon on my iPod.

Activating Ronaldo's Back-Heel Goal

The difference between skill and what I have:

Activating Matt Cazalas

Wheels up! SwimBikeRun St. Louis Czar Matt Cazalas has auctioned off many of his possessions and hit the road unsupported on his touring bike, with all his gear in tow, no knowledge of where he'll sleep each night, and no plans to see the St. Louis Arch again until September.

The title of his journal's web site — crazyguyonabike.com — sort of says it all.

The entire Activeness staff is impressed. In fact, Anonymous Racer X is considering a similar journey. He has begun exploring ways to hitch a trailer to his bike so he can haul his hyperbaric chamber and sleep in that along the way.

Good luck, Mr. C., and stay safe! A rolling stone gathers no moss.

Racer X: 100 Best First Lines From Novels (28-30)

Wherein Anonymous Racer X takes the 100 Best First Lines From Novels and turns each line into the opening of a lame tri-blog post by an infuriatingly self-obsessed triathlete.

Today's installment: Opening Lines 28-30.
Previous installment (25-27).

28. Mother died today.
But I still got in a 25/5 brick while Sophii took care of the arrangements.
— Albert Camus, The Stranger (1929)

29. Every summer Lin Kong returned to Goose Village to divorce his wife, Shuyu.
So that the week wasn't a total wash, he always tried to time his appearance in court around Ironman China.
— Ha Jin, Waiting (1999))

30. The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.
That pallid, spiritless hacker may be able to journey like a madman through cyberspace, but he'd have trouble even running a mile.
— William Gibson, Neuromancer (1984

Deactivating Night Sweats

Fourteen consecutive nights of flu-related night sweats: You have been Deactivated. After all these years, I discovered a new use for Coolmax clothing: wicking away the wetness during a fever. As with running, cotton is rotten when it comes to night sweats.